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Friday, 18 January 2013

Juniper Molasses

It's rare that I come across something new in Turkey so I was excited to discover an unfamiliar ingredient at the cheese stall last market day. I had no idea what "andız" were and at first glance thought the picture on the front of the jar was of beets. The cheese-seller wasn't sure what an andız was either but he knew it grew on a tree, so that ruled out beetroot. I bought the jar anyway and the nice chap behind the counter gave me a big slice of ricotta free of charge - he'd probably despaired of ever selling this unknown commodity. When I got home, I tried a teaspoon but this didn't give me any clues so I fired up the Mac and found out that andız pekmez is juniper molasses, (even though the word for "juniper" is "ardıç"). I've never come across this before and hope somebody reading this will have more information.

I decided to celebrate the new discovery with a biscuit recipe so here are my Juniper Molasses Cookies.

110g plain flour

80g rolled oats

Half tsp bicarb of soda

50 g sultanas

100g juniper molasses

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

100g butter

Heat the oven to 180 C

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl

Melt the butter, add the molasses and add to the dry ingredients

Mix well and drop spoonfuls on to a lined and greased baking try

Bake on a upper shelf for 15 minutes

Don't bake until they are completely hard, as they harden up on cooling.

26 comments:

Hello:How very spirited of you to have 'gone for' a new, to you, and unknown product and how very inventive to have discovered, and then tried out, a receipt for your Juniper Molasses. They certainly look very good.

B to B, Does this stuff look like honey with a bit of a funkier flavor? I'm curious because some time ago, I stopped at a stand selling honey and I picked out an unlabeled jar that looked a bit like honey but darker. My Turkish must not have been very good because I just remember the lady telling me that it was made from pine (çam) trees. I took a chance and brought it home. It reminded me a bit of maple syrup and I used it on yogurt mostly.

'Andız' is the Turkish name for Juniperus drupacea, sometimes called the 'Toros Sedir'. It is found in Greece, Syria and Lebanon as well as Turkey. 'Ardıç' is attached to all other junipers found in the country of which 9 are recorded.

These look lovely. We've seen the homemade juniper pekmez for sale by the roadside in villages near Saklıkent. That's what made me think you might be able to find someone near you who knows how to make it (re your question in the Turkish Food community). Might have to buy some now. :)

About Me

In early 1982 I boarded a Turkish Kibris flight to Izmir - my destination was a 29 foot sloop in Bodrum's new marina. At 22, my belongings fitted into a worse for wear sailing holdall. In 2012 I made a similar journey from Heathrow to Bodrum. Thirty years have passed and Bodrum has changed. There are plenty of very good blogs detailing the ex-pat journey through modern Turkey. The aim of this one is to catch sight of past Turkey through my experience of re-settling in modern Bodrum.